The Accounts Payable Network
December 19, 2014
 
The next edition of VSTW will publish Friday, Jan. 9. The MMS wishes you a happy and healthy holiday season.  

What Physicians Need to Do About the New State EHR Regulations
 The Board of Registration in Medicine this week gave its final approval to new regulations, strongly supported by the MMS, interpreting state law in a way that allows physicians many options in how they demonstrate proficiency in the use of electronic medical records.
 
The MMS applauds the Board’s success in interpreting the state legislature’s 2012 law connecting federal Meaningful Use and a Massachusetts medical license in a way that did not disenfranchise thousands of physicians.
 
The new regulations will take  effect January 2, 2015, but all physicians renewing their licenses before March 31, 2015, will receive a one-time waiver from the requirements. In addition, physicians with renewal dates up to 60 days after March 31 could submit a renewal application prior to March 31, and be within the window for an automatic waiver.
 
The regulations establish multiple ways in which physicians would be in compliance with the requirement. There are also a broad set of exemptions for certain license categories, where electronic health record use is intrinsic or not relevant. 
 
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MMS Committee on Nominations Seeks Candidates
The MMS Committee on Nominations is considering candidates for nomination for the following offices: President-elect, Vice President, Secretary-Treasurer, Assistant Secretary-Treasurer, Speaker, and Vice Speaker, and one or two Alternate Delegates for the Massachusetts AMA Delegation.  The deadline for submission of nomination applications is Friday, January 9 at 4 p.m.  Interviews with the Committee on Nominations will be held at MMS headquarters on Wednesday, Feb. 4.  For more information, please contact Linda Healy at (800) 322-2303, ext. 7008 or lhealy@mms.org.
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Medically Uninsured/Community Action Grant Letters due Jan. 15
The MMS and Alliance Charitable Foundation is accepting Letters of Inquiry for its Care for the Medically Uninsured and Community Action grant programs through Jan. 15.  The program is particularly seeking first-time grant applicants.  Please visit www.mmsfoundation.org  for more information and view a list of grant resources.
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Legal Advisor Plan Enrolling Through Jan. 31
The Legal Advisory Plan is enrolling for the January 2015 – January 2014 Plan Year. To renew or enroll for this enrollment period, please return your completed application or online enrollment by January 31. Don’t miss out on this exclusive member benefit for legal assistance regarding Board of Registration in Medicine matters. Full Details of the Legal Advisory Plan.
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Global Health Conference for Medical/Dental Students and Residents Jan. 10
The MMS and its Committee on Global Health present the New England Global Health Conference for Medical and Dental Student and Residents from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday,  Jan.10.   This full-day event will include lectures, hands-on workshops, and networking with global health professionals
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Live CME Activities 
Unless otherwise noted, all events are held at MMS headquarters, 860 Winter St., Waltham.
 
 
 
 
The above activities have been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit
 
Featured Online CME Activities – Risk Management Credit
The above activities have been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit
For additional risk management online CME activities, visit www.massmed.org/cme.

CMS: More Than 250,000 Physicians Facing Meaningful Use Penalties
 
More than 257,000 physicians and other health professionals are being notified that their Medicare payments will be cut next year because they failed to meet federal “meaningful use” standards for using electronic health records, according to CMS.
 

Mass. Physicians Now Required to Offer End-Of-Life Counseling

Doctors, hospitals, nursing homes and other health providers in Massachusetts are now required to offer end-of-life counseling to terminally ill patients. The requirement, part of a 2012 law, is believed to be the first such rule in the country.  On the MMS website:  End-of-life resources, including Massachusetts Health Care Proxy info
                

Pharmacy Execs Face Life for Mass. Meningitis Outbreak

U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said the compounding pharmacy blamed for a fungal meningitis outbreak that killed 64 people has spurred a rare racketeering case — the biggest in the nation's history involving contaminated drugs. Related news:  Pharmacy owners arrested in '12 meningitis outbreak
 

Big Hospitals Increase Dominance of State Health Care Market

The share of patients discharged from community hospitals fell to 17 percent from 29 percent of the market five years ago, while the five biggest hospital systems gained patients, according to the report from the Health Policy Commission. 
 

State, Steward Negotiating Quincy Hospital Closure
 
Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch and Attorney General Martha Coakley, both of whom have threatened legal action against Steward Health Care, have said they're still hashing out other issues with Steward beyond the fate of the ER. Related news: Steward offers one-year ER commitment in Quincy   and Milton, Weymouth Hospitals Preparing to Take QMC Patients
 

Tufts Health Plan and Tenet Still at Odds as Deadline Looms

With less than two weeks to go until nearly 20,000 people stand to lose in-network care, two local hospitals and Tufts Health Plan had yet to reach a deal late this week.
 

Partners HealthCare Posts $22m Loss

Partners HealthCare, the state's biggest health care provider, lost $22 million in the last fiscal year, its first loss in 15 years. The losses stemmed from the troubled finances at the company's insurance arm, Neighborhood Health Plan.
 

Doctor in Stem-Cell Probe Sues Brigham, Harvard
 
A prominent and controversial heart stem-cell scientist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and his collaborator have filed suit in federal court against the hospital and Harvard Medical School, saying the institutions are conducting "a procedurally and legally flawed investigation" into alleged scientific misconduct by the researchers.
 

Heroin Overdose Deaths Surge Across Mass. in Nov.

Heroin and other opiate overdoses are spiking across Massachusetts, with an alarming 58 suspected deaths so far this month, the same number reported for all of November, 16 of them in one weekend.
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